Google patents wearable capable of killing cancer

Google might be known to most as the search engine provider, but it has a growing health interest under its Calico subsidiary, who are looking for ways to cure cancer, stop ageing and potentially make humans immortal.

A recent patent from Google shows one way it could potentially remove cancer from a patient's system. It follows an early patent for a pill capable of “painting” cancer cells for scanners to pick up on.

The new patent is for a wearable capable of noticing these painted cells and destroying them. It uses a range of energy frequencies in a process called nanoparticle phoresis; pushing radio, magnetic, acoustic and infrared frequencies into the person’s wrist.

This sensor will be able to pick up on the painted cells and remove them from the user through sweat. Cancer is not the only potential disease Google’s new wearable would stop, Parkinson’s is also noticeable through this routine and can be slowed down.

It is still unclear if Google plans to release the wearable. It did partner with Novartis, the Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company, on smart contact lenses capable of managing diabetes and other diseases picked up from the eye.

Google has a vested interest in health, but has routinely been pushed to one side by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other roadblocks. Google’s founder Larry Page has spoke of making all medical records public and creating huge advancements in healthcare, but his company seems to be knuckled down by regulation, forcing them to partner with other companies.